WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.660 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:05.700 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:08.240 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.660 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:10.839 --> 00:00:13.640 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:15.779 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10 a .m. 00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:18.280 in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:21.820 us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:24.519 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:32.229 sermon. God bless. Lord God, we do thank you 00:00:32.229 --> 00:00:36.649 for today Sunday this resurrection day Thank 00:00:36.649 --> 00:00:40.229 you for gathering us together Or to worship you 00:00:40.229 --> 00:00:43.030 we thank you for your word. We thank you for 00:00:43.030 --> 00:00:47.030 the promise of your Holy Spirit Who is with us 00:00:47.030 --> 00:00:51.469 Jesus tells us who guides us who directs us a 00:00:51.469 --> 00:00:55.689 Spirit of God, please bless us now as we turn 00:00:55.689 --> 00:01:00.780 and consider you in this text before us hear 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:06.200 us we pray amen all right our text is going to 00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:07.959 be the New Testament passage we've been in the 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:09.500 Gospels we're going to be in this New Testament 00:01:09.500 --> 00:01:12.640 passage of Acts chapter 1 many of you know this 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:15.359 but acts I mentioned this actually in a in the 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:18.280 education hour before service but acts is really 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:25.230 the second part of the Luke acts duo Luke could 00:01:25.230 --> 00:01:28.629 be called the axe of Jesus, and axe could be 00:01:28.629 --> 00:01:30.290 called, often it's called the axe of the apostles, 00:01:30.370 --> 00:01:32.510 but it could be called the axe of the Holy Spirit. 00:01:33.230 --> 00:01:36.150 And it's kind of funny for us because we have 00:01:36.150 --> 00:01:38.769 them in our Bibles as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John 00:01:38.769 --> 00:01:41.489 axe, and John gets in the way. I don't know who 00:01:41.489 --> 00:01:43.370 did that. We should have been Matthew, Mark, 00:01:43.370 --> 00:01:45.689 John, Luke axe, so that you knew Luke and axe 00:01:45.689 --> 00:01:53.170 go together. As you might imagine, When one is 00:01:53.170 --> 00:01:55.870 thinking of preaching about the role of the Holy 00:01:55.870 --> 00:02:00.469 Spirit there is so much that could be said There 00:02:00.469 --> 00:02:03.890 are many fine books on the work of the Holy Spirit 00:02:03.890 --> 00:02:06.730 actually Bruce Weatherly I just read his book 00:02:06.730 --> 00:02:08.849 that he is having published in and much of it 00:02:08.849 --> 00:02:11.789 is about the work of the Holy Spirit and It sort 00:02:11.789 --> 00:02:13.509 of feels a little bit I will say this and this 00:02:13.509 --> 00:02:15.069 is often the case when you preach But I will 00:02:15.069 --> 00:02:16.729 say this it felt a little bit more this way this 00:02:16.729 --> 00:02:19.129 week overwhelming. There's just so much that 00:02:19.129 --> 00:02:21.889 could be done and studied and said and all this. 00:02:22.530 --> 00:02:26.229 It's sort of like when you start to clean your 00:02:26.229 --> 00:02:29.650 house on Saturday mornings with your kids, as 00:02:29.650 --> 00:02:32.629 I did yesterday, and you begin and you go, where 00:02:32.629 --> 00:02:38.110 do we stop? What do we focus on? I want you to 00:02:38.110 --> 00:02:40.310 think for a moment of all the things that you 00:02:40.310 --> 00:02:43.969 might That we might want to do as a church or 00:02:43.969 --> 00:02:45.849 maybe that we should do as a church just think 00:02:45.849 --> 00:02:52.870 about that for a moment, okay Should we do might 00:02:52.870 --> 00:03:02.030 be be about as a church My guess is even if I 00:03:02.030 --> 00:03:03.849 just gave you that short moment you thought of 00:03:03.849 --> 00:03:06.789 things like preaching the gospel and caring for 00:03:06.789 --> 00:03:11.520 the poor Supporting local and foreign missions, 00:03:13.099 --> 00:03:16.460 the expansion of the good news of Jesus. Maybe 00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:19.439 administering the sacraments, celebrating baptism 00:03:19.439 --> 00:03:24.460 and communion. Maybe creating spaces where we 00:03:24.460 --> 00:03:28.159 can gather together and engage with God's word 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:30.479 together. Allow him to ask questions of us and 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:33.460 to dig into the Bible together and do this. as 00:03:33.460 --> 00:03:36.199 a body. Maybe you thought of things like evangelism, 00:03:36.500 --> 00:03:38.379 just simply we should be sharing the good news 00:03:38.379 --> 00:03:42.000 of Jesus with others. Maybe you think of raising 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:44.500 our children, and actually the truth is that 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:46.599 even if we take these big categories and then 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:50.939 we kind of break them down, we could spend all 00:03:50.939 --> 00:03:52.240 day long, I could break you up into groups, we 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:53.979 could spend all day long just brainstorming what 00:03:53.979 --> 00:03:58.240 do we do as the church? How do we do it? And 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:00.740 the same thing could be said for us as individual 00:04:00.740 --> 00:04:03.879 Christians, right? what are the things that a 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:08.500 Christian should be doing and Of course you can 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:10.580 think of things like loving God and loving our 00:04:10.580 --> 00:04:12.240 neighbor and then we could just take that and 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:14.879 we can just break it down We could spend a long 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:19.100 long time about being peacemakers and those who 00:04:19.100 --> 00:04:22.120 seek justice and walk humbly with God and then 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:24.300 we could think of just the the fruits of the 00:04:24.300 --> 00:04:26.560 spirit how they're to be present with us and 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:28.420 be patient kind and self -controlled and all 00:04:28.420 --> 00:04:34.459 the rest and When you start to kind of do that, 00:04:34.459 --> 00:04:36.740 there's this sense, I have this sense of just, 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:40.959 it is a little overwhelming, one. But then I 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:44.699 also have this sense of, let's get to it! Let's 00:04:44.699 --> 00:04:49.720 go! It's kind of eagerness, urgency. And of course, 00:04:49.720 --> 00:04:51.079 we should be those who are eager to share the 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:53.680 good news with others, eager to serve others, 00:04:53.819 --> 00:04:56.060 engage with the Word with others, train our children 00:04:56.060 --> 00:04:58.920 in the ways of the Lord. But really, there's 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:02.389 just a lot. And I think that sometimes our impulse 00:05:02.389 --> 00:05:05.089 is just like, let's go, come on, come on, let's 00:05:05.089 --> 00:05:10.389 go. We've said quite a bit, it is Pentecost Sunday. 00:05:10.509 --> 00:05:14.449 Pentecost Sunday is remembering the 50 days after 00:05:14.449 --> 00:05:17.350 Easter when the Holy Spirit came upon the people 00:05:17.350 --> 00:05:20.870 there waiting for Him. We remember the descent 00:05:20.870 --> 00:05:25.730 of God just as Israel actually, 50 days after 00:05:25.730 --> 00:05:28.759 they were saved out from slavery in Egypt. were 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:32.680 with God there at Sinai. God descended there 00:05:32.680 --> 00:05:35.839 on Sinai. Once you think about that, they had 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:38.959 been saved. They were to be brought into the 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:41.579 promised land. They were to be the blessing that 00:05:41.579 --> 00:05:43.899 God had promised Abraham to them that they would 00:05:43.899 --> 00:05:45.939 be, right? The blessing to the nations that you 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:47.920 make them a great people and give them a land 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.060 and that through them all the nations of the 00:05:50.060 --> 00:05:53.959 earth will be blessed. Then he pauses them, pauses 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:56.959 them for a little while at Sinai. and he descends 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:02.060 on the mountain. Loud trumpets, clouds, smoke 00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:06.480 and fire, just as he did again in Acts 2. But 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:08.540 I want you to think about that. So much was to 00:06:08.540 --> 00:06:12.860 be done. God bring in the kingdom, just bring 00:06:12.860 --> 00:06:19.120 us to the promised land. He pauses them. So much 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.079 to do to be the instrument of God's blessing 00:06:21.079 --> 00:06:25.339 in the world, right? Our text this morning, Acts 00:06:26.119 --> 00:06:29.220 Acts 1 and I chose this because we have been 00:06:29.220 --> 00:06:32.300 in this little series since Easter with these 00:06:32.300 --> 00:06:34.819 narratives of Jesus with his disciples after 00:06:34.819 --> 00:06:38.300 the resurrection and we've been looking at at 00:06:38.300 --> 00:06:40.639 how he interacts with them post -resurrection 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:44.139 and As we've lived through these stories what 00:06:44.139 --> 00:06:45.680 we've really been saying is what does it mean 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:48.480 for us? How does this shape us as a resurrected 00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:50.660 people? What does it mean to be the church in 00:06:50.660 --> 00:06:52.560 light of these narratives of Jesus with his disciples 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:55.470 after the resurrection? How are we resurrected 00:06:55.470 --> 00:06:59.370 people? And the first thing we read there in 00:06:59.370 --> 00:07:01.569 verse four, I skipped the first few verses because 00:07:01.569 --> 00:07:04.750 they're really just kind of ties into the book 00:07:04.750 --> 00:07:08.769 of Luke. But there in verse four, what we read 00:07:08.769 --> 00:07:11.290 is says, and while staying with them, he ordered 00:07:11.290 --> 00:07:15.170 them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait 00:07:15.170 --> 00:07:22.990 for the promise of the Father. He says, wait. 00:07:24.180 --> 00:07:28.060 I've done this great work, but wait. And I kind 00:07:28.060 --> 00:07:30.459 of want to take on this text and this morning 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:32.759 this idea of the reality of the spirit with these 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:35.100 two, kind of two points, okay? The first one 00:07:35.100 --> 00:07:38.120 is this, is that there is an understandable urgency, 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:41.959 sort of that. And then there is the essential 00:07:41.959 --> 00:07:44.660 waiting, okay? An understandable urgency and 00:07:44.660 --> 00:07:47.259 an understandable waiting. So first an understandable 00:07:47.259 --> 00:07:51.500 urgency. So he tells his disciples, don't depart, 00:07:52.420 --> 00:07:58.839 don't go. Why would he do that? Well, maybe as 00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:01.399 I've kind of alluded to, it is kind of, you know, 00:08:01.560 --> 00:08:03.740 helping us to remember what God did when he brought 00:08:03.740 --> 00:08:05.579 his people out and he met with them there in 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:08.079 Sinai. But why would he do that? Well, I can 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:10.519 think of a lot of reasons why they might depart, 00:08:10.939 --> 00:08:15.459 why they might want to go, okay? The first reason... 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:18.500 If you hearken back with me to Easter Sunday 00:08:18.500 --> 00:08:21.939 if you were here is that they had actually engaged 00:08:21.939 --> 00:08:25.259 with the true fantasy The thing that made the 00:08:25.259 --> 00:08:27.759 most sense of the world the story of stories 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:31.839 that resonated most with the way the world is 00:08:31.839 --> 00:08:35.200 Declared the world to be really good and deeply 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:40.360 bad If you've been around for a while you have 00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:41.919 probably heard me say that one of the reasons 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:44.639 why I am a Christian Which I think is just worth 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:46.379 asking yourself occasionally, but I'm a Christian. 00:08:47.019 --> 00:08:49.419 One of the reasons why I'm a Christian is because 00:08:49.419 --> 00:08:52.440 the Christian story makes the most sense of the 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:57.679 world. I don't know how you cannot look out in 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:01.539 the world and say that this world is deeply lovely. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:08.620 Each person in me is incredibly beautiful. And 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:12.500 you have to hold that. with this other reality 00:09:12.500 --> 00:09:15.399 that things are not remotely how they are intended 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:19.360 to be, that everyone has in them actually unbelievable 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:22.419 darkness too, that the world is so messed up 00:09:22.419 --> 00:09:23.940 and you have to hold these things together. You 00:09:23.940 --> 00:09:26.840 have to say, how do I make sense of this? And 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:29.500 these disciples had actually engaged with the 00:09:29.500 --> 00:09:31.600 thing that makes the most sense of this, God 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:36.120 himself dying and yet doing so willingly for 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:38.860 the good of the world. They had engaged with 00:09:38.860 --> 00:09:42.240 the greatest story of all. And if you hear a 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:47.039 good story, do you tell that story? Of course 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:50.259 you do. Let me tell you about the movie I just 00:09:50.259 --> 00:09:52.299 saw. Let me tell you about this book. Oh man, 00:09:52.440 --> 00:09:55.639 my kid did something so funny. Of course you 00:09:55.639 --> 00:09:58.259 do. There's an urgency to say, I just engaged 00:09:58.259 --> 00:10:01.639 with one of the most amazing story ever. You 00:10:01.639 --> 00:10:03.899 need to hear it. So that would be the first reason 00:10:03.899 --> 00:10:06.299 why they're like just a little bit, you know, 00:10:06.299 --> 00:10:10.830 unable to sit still. The second reason is that 00:10:10.830 --> 00:10:14.850 they had been with the Lord and because they 00:10:14.850 --> 00:10:17.269 had been with the Lord, he had brought hope to 00:10:17.269 --> 00:10:22.110 their places of despair with his word. He had 00:10:22.110 --> 00:10:24.570 met them in their despair and brought his words 00:10:24.570 --> 00:10:27.710 of hope. He had opened to them the scriptures 00:10:27.710 --> 00:10:31.549 and they'd seen how he and his suffering and 00:10:31.549 --> 00:10:35.269 in his resurrection was the whole point of it. 00:10:35.450 --> 00:10:37.289 The whole point of the scriptures is found in 00:10:37.289 --> 00:10:40.840 Jesus. He meets them in their place of despair 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:44.919 and he brings them their hope They had witnessed 00:10:44.919 --> 00:10:47.759 the bread broken for them and been fed with the 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:50.899 spiritual food that nourishes their languishing 00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:54.240 hearts and The truth that God came for them. 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:57.700 He died for them He loved them while they were 00:10:57.700 --> 00:11:00.679 still enemies and strangers and far off and in 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:04.580 their despair and That meant that they had this 00:11:04.580 --> 00:11:08.659 real experience that the slog of life Right the 00:11:08.659 --> 00:11:11.700 long kind of journey slow journey making their 00:11:11.700 --> 00:11:15.440 way back to Emmaus if you will with its many 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:20.500 many many many reasons to hang your head and 00:11:20.500 --> 00:11:24.399 To think about giving up and to live a hopeless 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:31.779 life Was met by God with them in the flesh Which 00:11:31.779 --> 00:11:35.580 was to say that he knows our sorrow He knows 00:11:35.580 --> 00:11:40.450 our despair He's one who is acquainted with grief, 00:11:41.009 --> 00:11:44.809 Isaiah tells us. And yet he brings his hope, 00:11:44.850 --> 00:11:47.789 his resurrected presence into that. And that 00:11:47.789 --> 00:11:49.570 again is something that you would want to run 00:11:49.570 --> 00:11:55.409 to others who have lost children, who have mental 00:11:55.409 --> 00:11:58.149 illness that plagues them, who were torn from 00:11:58.149 --> 00:12:00.710 their children or from their parents because 00:12:00.710 --> 00:12:03.730 of substance abuse and all kinds of other things. 00:12:04.490 --> 00:12:06.769 You would want to run into this world and say, 00:12:06.940 --> 00:12:11.419 I know how bad it is. The despair is real, and 00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:14.740 yet God brings his hope into this world. We worship 00:12:14.740 --> 00:12:16.980 a God who does not stand far off away from it, 00:12:16.980 --> 00:12:20.539 but comes into it. He conquers it, taking on 00:12:20.539 --> 00:12:25.279 death, conquering it. He was despised. He was 00:12:25.279 --> 00:12:28.820 rejected. He knows that. This is the God we proclaim, 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:32.600 and he brings hope into that world. These disciples 00:12:32.600 --> 00:12:35.559 would have been antsy. Let's do something about 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:39.230 this. Let's... Share this of course they need 00:12:39.230 --> 00:12:45.149 to be told not to depart It would have been like 00:12:45.149 --> 00:12:47.690 Joseph of Arimathea right who had known the bad 00:12:47.690 --> 00:12:51.450 was bad Like the Mary's there at the empty tomb 00:12:51.450 --> 00:12:55.190 who knew how sweet Not the sense that covered 00:12:55.190 --> 00:13:00.029 death were but life after death is They were 00:13:00.029 --> 00:13:01.629 like the two on the road to Emmaus just like 00:13:01.629 --> 00:13:05.080 you and I have been on that road to Emmaus who 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:07.740 plotted along thinking all was lost and yet we 00:13:07.740 --> 00:13:11.259 were brought the hope of resurrection. But there 00:13:11.259 --> 00:13:13.700 are other reasons. Let's keep going through them. 00:13:14.519 --> 00:13:17.500 So we kind of rehearse this Easter tide. Third 00:13:17.500 --> 00:13:20.879 reason they wanted to depart, no doubt, was that 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.340 their doubt had been engaged with lovingly and 00:13:24.340 --> 00:13:29.159 they had grown in faith and belief. How lovely 00:13:29.159 --> 00:13:35.299 is the story of Thomas and Jesus? How lovely 00:13:35.299 --> 00:13:39.779 is it, right? Jesus meets him and his doubt and 00:13:39.779 --> 00:13:43.159 he doesn't despise him because of it He doesn't 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:46.340 toss him off as though he weren't truly a disciple 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:52.519 because he doubts But he lovingly says look touch 00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:58.340 You remember just two weeks ago we looked at 00:13:58.340 --> 00:14:00.960 the end of the gospel of Matthew the Great Commission 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:04.259 How even right there before the words of the 00:14:04.259 --> 00:14:09.100 Great Commission, sorry, Matthew tells us, some 00:14:09.100 --> 00:14:12.659 doubt it. And they're still sent, they're still 00:14:12.659 --> 00:14:16.639 commissioned out into the world. And you and 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:20.019 I can think today of how often almost any community 00:14:20.019 --> 00:14:22.720 that you exist in cannot stand sort of the doubters 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:25.100 who question the community narrative, right? 00:14:26.299 --> 00:14:28.580 I mean, you and I know how particularly technology 00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:31.399 has... exacerbated this, how our feedback loops 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:35.279 are just coming before us all the time. How much 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:39.100 social destruction happens because of this, but 00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:43.019 also how quickly one is outside of the community 00:14:43.019 --> 00:14:45.240 if they simply doubt the narrative of that community. 00:14:46.500 --> 00:14:49.700 And Jesus lovingly engages that doubt and he 00:14:49.700 --> 00:14:52.179 brings greater faith in the midst of that doubt. 00:14:54.620 --> 00:14:57.559 Jesus does long for our belief just as he did 00:14:57.559 --> 00:15:00.000 the disciples in the storm that we heard earlier 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:03.519 this spring. He invites us into a greater life 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:06.539 of deeper faith and deeper belief, but he does 00:15:06.539 --> 00:15:10.080 not despise our doubt. And that would have been 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:11.679 radical then and it's radical now. And they would 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:13.679 have then said, we need to tell others about 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:17.960 this kind of God who comes among us, who rises 00:15:17.960 --> 00:15:20.080 from the dead and yet even welcomes us in our 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:23.840 doubt and commissions us out to the world. Okay, 00:15:23.940 --> 00:15:25.830 another reason. why they would have wanted to 00:15:25.830 --> 00:15:30.110 depart, to go out, is that they had been a restored 00:15:30.110 --> 00:15:33.149 people because they had been restored by Jesus. 00:15:34.669 --> 00:15:37.330 And how much do we need the restoring work of 00:15:37.330 --> 00:15:44.629 Jesus? We live in a way, sort of a default way 00:15:44.629 --> 00:15:47.970 out of our failures and the ways that we've been 00:15:47.970 --> 00:15:51.289 sinned against. The default way that we engage 00:15:51.289 --> 00:15:53.789 with the world is out of our failures and the 00:15:53.789 --> 00:15:57.669 ways that others have failed us I Know many of 00:15:57.669 --> 00:16:00.529 you have engaged on some level with the personality 00:16:00.529 --> 00:16:03.529 typing system the Enneagram somebody once asked 00:16:03.529 --> 00:16:05.149 me recently. Do you guys talk about that as a 00:16:05.149 --> 00:16:08.889 church? I was like I try not to But there's a 00:16:08.889 --> 00:16:12.309 lot of good there and I think one of its strengths 00:16:12.809 --> 00:16:15.309 is that it names how this is true, how so often 00:16:15.309 --> 00:16:17.629 we live actually out of sort of coping with the 00:16:17.629 --> 00:16:19.049 reality of how we've been sinned against and 00:16:19.049 --> 00:16:23.850 how we are sinners. But why I say that is because 00:16:23.850 --> 00:16:26.710 we actually tell these stories primarily of how 00:16:26.710 --> 00:16:28.370 others have failed us and how we have failed 00:16:28.370 --> 00:16:32.389 others. And Jesus actually invites us into naming 00:16:32.389 --> 00:16:36.669 that, but living a new story. Jesus with Peter 00:16:36.669 --> 00:16:39.029 right there on the beach having just cooked the 00:16:39.029 --> 00:16:43.190 fish over the fire. Restoring him as he restores 00:16:43.190 --> 00:16:47.950 us. We so often live in fear and scarcity and 00:16:47.950 --> 00:16:50.370 in shame in what Jesus does in restoring us as 00:16:50.370 --> 00:16:52.950 he gives us new story with the forgiveness of 00:16:52.950 --> 00:16:55.470 sins where he gives us abundance, where he gives 00:16:55.470 --> 00:16:59.090 us love that covers our shame and our fear. Because 00:16:59.090 --> 00:17:03.330 perfect love always casts out fear. And they 00:17:03.330 --> 00:17:07.240 would have wanted to share that. Okay, one last 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:09.460 reason why they were urgent, why they had this 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:11.519 urgency and it would have been understandable. 00:17:13.500 --> 00:17:16.640 Jesus had just told them this, all authority 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:19.839 in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 00:17:20.259 --> 00:17:23.339 Go therefore, make disciples of all nations, 00:17:23.819 --> 00:17:25.480 baptizing them in the name of the Father and 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:27.660 of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them 00:17:27.660 --> 00:17:30.000 to observe all that I have commanded you. Behold 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:31.920 I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. 00:17:32.770 --> 00:17:36.490 Jesus very likely had these two conversations, 00:17:36.970 --> 00:17:40.609 Acts chapter 1, Matthew 28, as one conversation. 00:17:41.930 --> 00:17:44.250 These are both narratives of the ascension, which 00:17:44.250 --> 00:17:46.349 we would have celebrated last Sunday. I wasn't 00:17:46.349 --> 00:17:49.490 here with you to celebrate that, but these would 00:17:49.490 --> 00:17:51.670 have been part of the same conversation, right? 00:17:53.769 --> 00:18:01.529 Go! Don't depart yet. Here's part of what I'm 00:18:01.529 --> 00:18:03.809 trying to say. There are so many things to do 00:18:03.809 --> 00:18:07.609 as the Church. There are so many things to do 00:18:07.609 --> 00:18:13.410 as Christians, as the people of God, sent out 00:18:13.410 --> 00:18:18.130 into the world, touched, changed by His Word. 00:18:19.650 --> 00:18:22.230 Those who are growing in belief and faith and 00:18:22.230 --> 00:18:24.789 trust. Those who have had our stories re -storied 00:18:24.789 --> 00:18:27.789 by the resurrected Christ. Those who have been 00:18:27.789 --> 00:18:32.920 sent. These things that Marcus as a resurrection 00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:35.920 people enlist. Just go on. We all know this is 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:40.099 true. Of course, this is partly why in verse 00:18:40.099 --> 00:18:43.519 six, they say this, verse six. So when they'd 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:45.819 come together, they asked him, Lord, will you 00:18:45.819 --> 00:18:49.200 at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? Which 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:55.380 is sort of like, let's do it. Let's go. It's 00:18:55.380 --> 00:19:00.549 not a wild question to ask. God acted definitively 00:19:00.549 --> 00:19:03.410 the prophets of old had said then then God would 00:19:03.410 --> 00:19:06.289 bring his people back from exile which we don't 00:19:06.289 --> 00:19:08.190 have time to get into how he does that in the 00:19:08.190 --> 00:19:11.670 second chapter, but It's a very reasonable thing 00:19:11.670 --> 00:19:16.250 to ask that let's get going It's an understandable 00:19:16.250 --> 00:19:21.150 urgency in the disciples But the second thing 00:19:21.150 --> 00:19:24.069 I want to say is this that there is an essential 00:19:24.069 --> 00:19:33.130 waiting essential waiting So six again So when 00:19:33.130 --> 00:19:35.190 they come together they asked him Lord will you 00:19:35.190 --> 00:19:39.089 at this time restore the kingdom? To Israel he 00:19:39.089 --> 00:19:41.309 said to them It's not for you to know the time 00:19:41.309 --> 00:19:44.569 or seasons that the father has fixed by his own 00:19:44.569 --> 00:19:48.730 authority but you will receive power when the 00:19:48.730 --> 00:19:52.109 Holy Spirit has come upon you and You will be 00:19:52.109 --> 00:19:57.329 my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria 00:19:57.329 --> 00:20:03.720 to the ends the earth. Which is interesting, 00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:06.440 he doesn't really address their question necessarily. 00:20:07.500 --> 00:20:12.839 He says the father knows, but he does address 00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:16.400 what is essential for the going out, for the 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:23.819 doing. Turn with me in your bulletins to the 00:20:23.819 --> 00:20:26.410 front cover. If you read these often, you will 00:20:26.410 --> 00:20:28.210 notice there's a couple names that come up a 00:20:28.210 --> 00:20:31.950 lot. And one of those is Leslie Newbegin, the 00:20:31.950 --> 00:20:34.789 great missionary to India, and then to Great 00:20:34.789 --> 00:20:38.029 Britain in the 20th century. He says this, mission, 00:20:38.490 --> 00:20:40.349 going out of God's people, the work of God's 00:20:40.349 --> 00:20:43.049 people in the world, it's not simply the self 00:20:43.049 --> 00:20:45.490 -propagation of the church by putting forth the 00:20:45.490 --> 00:20:51.049 power that inheres in its life. To accept that 00:20:51.049 --> 00:20:54.029 picture would be to sanction an appalling distortion. 00:20:54.140 --> 00:20:58.099 of mission. On the contrary, the active agent 00:20:58.099 --> 00:21:01.019 of mission is a power that rules, guides, and 00:21:01.019 --> 00:21:04.380 goes before the Church—the free, sovereign, living 00:21:04.380 --> 00:21:07.799 power of the Spirit of God. Mission is not something 00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:11.460 that the Church does. It is something that is 00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:15.279 done by the Spirit, who is Himself the witness, 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:18.279 who changes both the world and the Church who 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:21.000 always goes before the Church in its missionary 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:27.380 journey. The truth is though that we so often 00:21:27.380 --> 00:21:31.200 see the long list and continue the long list 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:37.160 and just go and do without being led. A .W. Tozer, 00:21:37.460 --> 00:21:39.539 writing in the middle of the last century, he 00:21:39.539 --> 00:21:42.900 wrote, if the Holy Spirit withdraws from the 00:21:42.900 --> 00:21:47.039 church today, 95 % of what we do would go on 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:53.329 and nobody would know the difference. The Holy 00:21:53.329 --> 00:21:55.730 Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament 00:21:55.730 --> 00:22:00.630 Church 95 % of what they did would stop And everybody 00:22:00.630 --> 00:22:06.269 would know the difference Jesus says in a way 00:22:06.269 --> 00:22:11.789 you want the kingdom You want the reality of 00:22:11.789 --> 00:22:15.089 my reign as you saw in my ministry here among 00:22:15.089 --> 00:22:19.670 you Preaching of the kingdom lives transformed 00:22:19.670 --> 00:22:26.740 the lame healed the dead raised, new life brought 00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:29.779 to a strange folk like the woman with the uncontrollable 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:33.559 bleeding shunned from the community, or the woman 00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:36.059 there at the well who had five husbands and the 00:22:36.059 --> 00:22:39.319 man she was living with wasn't her husband, how 00:22:39.319 --> 00:22:41.619 Jesus brought her and restored her to community. 00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:44.500 You want that kind of thing, the reality of the 00:22:44.500 --> 00:22:52.099 kingdom of God among you? The Holy Spirit. Wait. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:57.680 upon the Spirit. There is no kingdom without 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:01.440 the Spirit of God among us. There is no going 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:05.859 out without the Spirit of God among us. There 00:23:05.859 --> 00:23:09.740 is no fruitful church without the Spirit of God 00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:12.160 among us. There's no fruitful Christian without 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:14.700 the Spirit of God. There is no hope. There is 00:23:14.700 --> 00:23:17.099 no belief. There is no restoring. There is no 00:23:17.099 --> 00:23:20.920 mission. There's none of it without the Spirit 00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:26.250 of God. The spirit must lead in all things. Now 00:23:26.250 --> 00:23:28.349 I'm guessing some of you, because I've had this 00:23:28.349 --> 00:23:30.490 question posed to me a number of times, are thinking, 00:23:30.609 --> 00:23:36.009 what is the Holy Spirit? I think I kind of get 00:23:36.009 --> 00:23:42.190 the idea of God the Father. The Son is sent by 00:23:42.190 --> 00:23:44.410 the Father. He has sort of an authority there. 00:23:45.289 --> 00:23:48.789 I get the idea of Jesus and the flesh God with 00:23:48.789 --> 00:23:50.970 us. Hard to understand, but I think I can get 00:23:50.970 --> 00:23:53.700 my mind around a little bit. What about the spirit 00:23:53.700 --> 00:23:57.299 Well, the first thing about the spirit is it's 00:23:57.299 --> 00:24:03.559 a who and The second thing is God That's that's 00:24:03.559 --> 00:24:05.640 the big thing that Christians believe about the 00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:13.400 Holy Spirit God with us The gift of God's presence 00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:19.019 the real presence of God with the people of God 00:24:19.019 --> 00:24:23.430 Spirit is the reality of God with us doing what 00:24:23.430 --> 00:24:30.269 we cannot do in and of ourselves. I think Luke 00:24:30.269 --> 00:24:33.569 includes this whole bit about Jesus telling his 00:24:33.569 --> 00:24:40.430 disciples not to depart because he knows what 00:24:40.430 --> 00:24:45.450 we're inclined to do. Just go do it in and of 00:24:45.450 --> 00:24:48.710 ourselves. We've heard these things, let's just 00:24:48.710 --> 00:24:51.259 go share them. We've got some good ideas. We 00:24:51.259 --> 00:24:57.200 want to do good things. Just go. We're inclined 00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:00.039 to do even to do good things by ourselves. We're 00:25:00.039 --> 00:25:02.400 inclined to work and to strive and to accomplish. 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:09.359 We are not inclined to yield, to wait. To be 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:12.140 okay with the timing and the work. Maybe just 00:25:12.140 --> 00:25:19.549 the slow abiding of fruit bearing. But think 00:25:19.549 --> 00:25:23.809 of this too. How often, when we do these things 00:25:23.809 --> 00:25:26.650 in our own strength, in our own urgent timing, 00:25:27.670 --> 00:25:29.890 are the fruits of the Spirit evident in the doing? 00:25:32.589 --> 00:25:38.390 When we are eager to get something done, is love 00:25:38.390 --> 00:25:43.630 often evident? How about peace? Is peace often 00:25:43.630 --> 00:25:49.369 evident in the urgent doing? I mean, this almost 00:25:49.369 --> 00:25:53.369 sounds silly. Is patience often evident in the 00:25:53.369 --> 00:25:57.210 urge in doing? Or kindness, or goodness, or gentleness, 00:25:57.309 --> 00:26:02.750 or faithfulness, or self -control? It's almost 00:26:02.750 --> 00:26:06.789 laughable to think about. The fruits of the spirit 00:26:06.789 --> 00:26:14.210 are so rarely evident when we just do do. But 00:26:14.210 --> 00:26:16.950 they are so often evident when we wait, when 00:26:16.950 --> 00:26:21.740 we abide. when we are patient for God among us, 00:26:22.160 --> 00:26:26.799 when we sit with him and wait upon him. Now when 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:28.579 we seek to do the work of the kingdom in our 00:26:28.579 --> 00:26:32.099 own time, in our own ways, the spirit is strikingly 00:26:32.099 --> 00:26:35.480 absent. The fruits of the spirit are strikingly 00:26:35.480 --> 00:26:40.180 bare. There is, that's what I'm saying, there 00:26:40.180 --> 00:26:42.099 is an understandable urgency to the work that 00:26:42.099 --> 00:26:45.859 we are to do, that God calls us to do and to 00:26:45.859 --> 00:26:51.420 be as his body. But there is a necessary waiting 00:26:51.420 --> 00:26:55.819 and if you don't do the waiting you don't do 00:26:55.819 --> 00:27:03.279 the work But but you know what happened when 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:06.720 they waited So if you know what happened when 00:27:06.720 --> 00:27:17.059 they waited and God showed up God came Descended 00:27:17.059 --> 00:27:20.240 like he did long ago upon Mount Sinai and upon 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:24.920 the temple, creating new temples within the church, 00:27:25.160 --> 00:27:29.220 his presence among his people. And that first 00:27:29.220 --> 00:27:33.039 Pentecost Peter preached, having been restored 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:36.920 by Jesus and 3 ,000 people responded, what must 00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:41.019 we do? What are we to do? They repent and they 00:27:41.019 --> 00:27:44.000 were baptized and brought into the life of the 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:49.259 church. Disciples waited the church moved out 00:27:49.259 --> 00:27:53.140 filled with the Holy Spirit Preaching but then 00:27:53.140 --> 00:27:55.380 early on actually what we learned is that their 00:27:55.380 --> 00:28:00.299 their economic life was transformed I'm giving 00:28:00.299 --> 00:28:03.819 their lives The word spirit the fill with the 00:28:03.819 --> 00:28:05.259 spirit is all over the book of Acts you think 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:09.599 of Stephen He filled the spirit. He was a deacon 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:12.660 in the early church preaching the good news and 00:28:12.660 --> 00:28:17.470 he was stoned He had a confident Think of Jed's 00:28:17.470 --> 00:28:20.569 sermon. Almost confident people. He had a confidence, 00:28:21.670 --> 00:28:24.569 right? A belief that what God had done in Christ 00:28:24.569 --> 00:28:27.269 would be done for him. He could give himself 00:28:27.269 --> 00:28:31.029 freely and fully because the Spirit of God, God 00:28:31.029 --> 00:28:35.230 himself, was with him. They cared for their poor. 00:28:35.990 --> 00:28:39.490 They loved those who cursed them. They were filled 00:28:39.490 --> 00:28:41.450 with the Spirit and they gave themselves over 00:28:41.450 --> 00:28:44.150 to the life of the mission of God in the world. 00:28:48.280 --> 00:28:52.819 friends It is Pentecost this morning and The 00:28:52.819 --> 00:28:55.640 promise of Pentecost is nothing less than the 00:28:55.640 --> 00:29:07.599 promise of Jesus. I am with you always Let's 00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:12.240 wait on the word but then that then let's do 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:16.099 the work of the church with that promise of Christ, 00:29:16.740 --> 00:29:21.940 with that reality of the Spirit, I am with you. 00:29:23.259 --> 00:29:28.859 Amen? Lord God, we bless you. Holy Spirit, we 00:29:28.859 --> 00:29:34.279 adore you. God, we need you. God, I pray that 00:29:34.279 --> 00:29:38.980 for us who are so eager to just do and we see 00:29:38.980 --> 00:29:42.769 the massive amount that there is God I pray that 00:29:42.769 --> 00:29:45.309 you would teach us to be those who abide in you 00:29:45.309 --> 00:29:48.690 and bear much fruit To be those who wait upon 00:29:48.690 --> 00:29:54.049 you and yet you show up Got to be those who desire 00:29:54.049 --> 00:29:57.109 to be this resurrected community and are because 00:29:57.109 --> 00:30:02.529 you are with us in your Holy Spirit God we think 00:30:02.529 --> 00:30:09.150 of foul Pentecost is leading us into what the 00:30:09.150 --> 00:30:11.990 church often calls as Trinity time or ordinary 00:30:11.990 --> 00:30:15.430 time or the growth time of the church. God, I 00:30:15.430 --> 00:30:18.410 pray that this reality of your revelation to 00:30:18.410 --> 00:30:22.650 us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God with us, 00:30:23.289 --> 00:30:25.549 be the growth that we long for, that we would 00:30:25.549 --> 00:30:28.130 bear the fruit of love and joy and peace and 00:30:28.130 --> 00:30:30.509 patience and kindness and gentleness and faithfulness 00:30:30.509 --> 00:30:34.819 and self -control. That you would bear much fruit 00:30:34.819 --> 00:30:37.619 through this body and through us as individuals 00:30:37.619 --> 00:30:45.039 God have your way with us Do what we cannot do 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:50.680 in and of ourselves, please Lord Bear much fruit 00:30:50.680 --> 00:30:53.420 Through the presence of your very spirit among 00:30:53.420 --> 00:30:57.900 us pray this the name of Jesus The one who actually 00:30:57.900 --> 00:31:01.980 said it's better that I leave the spirit come 00:31:03.500 --> 00:31:09.119 Amen. Thank you for listening to Second City 00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:12.059 Sermon's podcast. We hope this sermon has encouraged 00:31:12.059 --> 00:31:14.220 you to worship God and to celebrate the gospel 00:31:14.220 --> 00:31:16.920 of Jesus. Please consider subscribing to this 00:31:16.920 --> 00:31:19.680 podcast and joining us in person each Sunday 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:23.059 at 10 a .m. You can find us online at secondcitychurch 00:31:23.059 --> 00:31:26.140 .org and on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. 00:31:26.500 --> 00:31:28.559 Thanks again for listening. God bless.